Spanish

Studying Spanish at A Level will enable you to deepen your knowledge of the language and get a greater insight into the culture of Spain and the Spanish speaking world. Having Spanish is a fantastic asset in today’s competitive job market and shows self-discipline, motivation, and a desire to learn, qualities sought after by Universities and employers alike.

There are more than 300 million native speakers of Spanish throughout the world – more than any other language except Chinese.

Spanish is the official language of 21 countries and is one of the official languages of the United Nations and the European Union. In the European Union, Spain plays a major role and is Britain’s third most important trading partner. The 19 Spanish-speaking countries of Latin America offer vast potential in terms of trade and investment. You will extend your knowledge of the language and the culture of Spanish speaking countries and gain the confidence to communicate in Spanish.

What will I study?

Year 12

Theme 1 – The evolution of Spanish society

Unit 1 – The changes in family structures

Unit 2 – The world of work

Unit 3 – The impact of tourism in Spain

Theme 2 – The culture in the Spanish speaking world

Unit 4 – Music

Unit 5 – Media & communication

Unit 6 – The role of customs and traditions Cinema – Volver, by Pedro Almodóvar

You will sit three papers at the end of Year 13, but you will have plenty of practice tests and mocks:

Paper 1: Listening, reading and translation (**Paper code: 9SP0/01)

Written examination: 2 hours

40% of the qualification

80 marks

This paper draws on vocabulary and structures across all four themes.

Assessment overview

Students are not permitted access to a dictionary during the examination.

Paper 2: Written response to works and translation (**Paper code: 9SP0/02)

Written examination: 2 hours and 40 minutes

30% of the qualification

120 marks

Paper 3: Speaking (**Paper code: 9SP0/03)

Internally conducted and externally assessed

Total assessment time: between 21 and 23 minutes, which includes a single period of 5 minutes’ formal preparation time

30% of the qualification

72 marks

Where can it lead?

There are many possibilities for able, qualified linguists in number of fields. Here are some careers directly linked to languages: translator, interpreter, languages teacher, tourism and international charities.

There are also a number of fields where having a language will give an internal dimension to your work: journalism, law, politics, management, engineering, architecture, computing and finance to name a few. There are a number of degrees that combine languages with another subject (ie- law and Spanish).

Even you decide not to pursue languages after A level, this will be an undeniable asset to your CV, and broaden your university choice and career prospects.